Twitch has introduced a new change to the stream tags on channels, which has completely removed the “Blind Playthrough” tag from the site following criticism around the language used.
It can often be difficult to get discovered as a new Twitch streamer, with thousands of other content creators broadcasting on the site at any one time.
Twitch has previously introduced tags to address this issue in 2018, which can be added to a streamer’s channel and can be used by viewers for filtering their searches to find what they’re looking for.
While the usual tags often include information such as language and type of content, one tag that was used for those playing a game for the first time was the “Blind Playthrough” tag.
The tag would indicate that the streamer had not seen any spoilers or that they do not know much about the title’s gameplay and features before playing it.
However, in a recent tweet, Twitch’s community director Erin ‘Aureylian’ Wayne highlighted that they have removed the tag from the site, following criticism around the choice of words used, with some suggesting that the language was ableist.
Happy to see Twitch has listened to everyone who shared feedback and removed the “Blind Playthrough” tag to encourage more inclusive language for our community.
You can still use “First Playthrough” or opt to use it in combination with "No Spoilers" for the same sentiment. 💜
— Aureylian (@aureylian) December 4, 2020
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“Happy to see Twitch has listened to everyone who shared feedback and removed the ‘Blind Playthrough’ tag to encourage more inclusive language for our community,” she added.
While the “Blind Playthrough” tag has been removed from the database, the Twitch director urged streamers to make use of the “First Playthrough” and “No Spoilers” tags in its place.
Great question.
"Blind play through" or "going in blind"
Can easily be replaced by saying "No spoilers play through" or "Undiscovered" or "first" (if it is your first)
A blind playthrough would be to turn your monitor off, and that's not what most meanhttps://t.co/Y7uwOygWfG
— Steven Spohn (Spawn) (@stevenspohn) June 15, 2020
The term “Blind Playthrough” was central to a discussion on ableist language sparked by AbleGamers COO Steven Spohn earlier in the year and now Twitch has acted in response.
While Twitch’s latest change has been met with some positive responses so far, some users have argued the need for the change, highlighting that “Blind” has two official definitions.
However, Twitch has remained firm on their stance, and streamers will simply need to use an alternative tag while streaming spoiler-free gameplay.